Beipiaosaurus

Representation of two Beipiaosaurus inexpectus.

• Liaoning Province, China

• Beipiaosaurus inexpectus

Beipiaosaurus (Greek Lizard of Beipiao ) is a genus theropod dinosaur from the group of Therizinosauroidea who lived during the Lower Cretaceous of China.

The way to now only discovered was found in 1999 near the town of Beipiao in Liaoning Province in China by Xing Xu, Zhi -lu Tang and Xiao -lin Wang and received due to the "startling features of the beast" (meaning skin marks that are indicate springs ) the name Beipiaosaurus inexpectus.

Description

Beipiaosaurus reached a length of about 2.2 meters and was about 0.9 meters high. His weight was estimated at 80 kg and he walked on two legs. He was up to the first description of Yutyrannus in April 2012 as the largest covered with feathers dinosaurs. He also had a toothless beak with cheek teeth and had long sickle-shaped claws on the fore-arms, which are typical for the representatives of Therizinosauria. Most Therizinosaurier have four functional toes, but the inner toes of Beipiaosaurus show that these dinosaurs had ancestors with three toes. The head was very large compared to other Therizinosauriern, the jaw measured more than half the length of the thigh. Skin impressions of this dinosaur suggest that the body was mostly of fluffy, fiber-like feathers, similar to those of Sinosauropteryx covered. This downy feathers represent an intermediate stage between Sinosauropteryx and the birds, in the broader sense ( Avialae ) dar. One suspects also that nourished Beipiaosaurus of plants.